From Mother of All demos to interaction design

In the video, I was so impressed by the prototype made by Doug Engelbart. Some of the key features of the prototype had a great influence on today’s interaction design. GUI, micro-interaction, user feedbacks, information architecture… All of these ideas were presented by Engelbart with his prototype.

The interface allows people to interact with the computer. In the past, although the computer was in a large computer room, the system could respond to users by their inputs and command. Today, we have a more developed platform that offers users a human-centered way to communicate with the computer, even virtually with other people through the use of the internet. The original idea from the prototype Doug presented was essential to the modern development of interface design. It inspired more people to think about easier communication between humans and computers.

Also, the demos reminds me the use of micro-interaction and sound feedbacks. during that time, the concept was introduced to people that when the keyboards were hit, there would be sound effects. Today, we use visual notifications, sometimes with sound, to provide feedbacks to users through the GUI.

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3 thoughts on “From Mother of All demos to interaction design

  1. Really great job drawing the parallels between Engelbart’s initially demo and the micro-interactions we experience today!

  2. Your observations of micro-interaction, as well as sound feedback, are great! Those two are indeed essential factors in Interaction Design. I’m glad that you proposed them. Comparing current human-computer interaction with previous systems and platforms is a good way to present contrast and find new insights. Nice job!

  3. Thanks for bringing the sound effects up. I almost forget how important that element is to the disabilities.

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